A single checkpoint in Northeastern Syria recently became a flashpoint — and in our latest Bellingcat collaboration with Newsy, we show you how. U.S. troops have patrolled the Turkish-Syria border since 2017. This is a means of trying to keep tensions at bay between numerous local factions. This has particularly concerned Turkey — which is,…
Images and videos from social media suggest that Greek security services may be using a similar kind of tear gas round that has resulted in the serious injury or death of scores of protesters in Iraq. Images and videos posted by journalists, activists and Turkish politicians show expended munitions in the vicinity of protests by…
This investigation was conducted jointly with Umut 2020, a new Kyrgyz popular movement focused on investigating corruption. You can watch their video of the report at the bottom of this post (Russian). On November 10th, the businessman Aierken Saimaiti, who had an arrest warrant international arrest warrant issued after fraud allegations, was shot dead in…
At Bellingcat, we believe in holding the powerful to account for their actions. We recognise that in order to do that, analysis of contentious issues such as conflicts must be conducted in an accurate manner. We also know that in order to ensure accountability, we need to understand who investigates what kind of incidents. In…
On October 12, Hevrin Khalaf was traveling through northeastern Syria in a heavily armored car — three days after Turkey launched an offensive in the region. Hevrin’s vehicle was fired at and forced to stop. The Kurdish politician was then pulled from her vehicle and killed. On the same day and in the same area,…
With the resurgence of direct military conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 2015 and in the wake of the 2016 coup attempt, Turkey began to reinstall and reinvigorate the invasive security apparatus it constructed during the 1980s. This report uses satellite imagery to track the development of 73 checkpoints across southeast Turkey, showing…
Since the onset of its direct intervention in Syria, Turkey has struggled to create stability in northern Aleppo. Writing in mid-2017, Aaron Stein and others attributed this to the Turkish development and support of two conflicting security apparatuses; the newly created local police forces and existent militant opposition, as well as local council governance structures…
As the Syrian Civil War enters its eighth year, previously overlooked ethnic and religious groups, and the divisions and alliances between them have garnered more coverage and analysis. After years of war and the break up of traditional loyalties, groups that were previously suppressed by the Syrian government have been able to reach out to…
Since the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and allied Syrian Arab and Turkmen militias concluded “Operation Olive Branch” in Syria in late March of 2018, allegations of human rights abuses have widely circulated on social media. Among these charges is the destruction of graveyards and accompanying shrines throughout Afrin. Videos and photographs have surfaced depicting Yezidi…
On October 8, a photograph spread throughout WhatsApp showing Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist living in Turkey, entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul through a rear entrance. He has not been seen since, with credible reports that he was either murdered or kidnapped by Saudi officials. Later, a video that this photograph was taken from…
